If Only...

Chapter 4- My Friend

I slowed down to breathe and forgot what turns I had made and had gotten lost. I stopped in an open area- it looks like a farm with no crops. The tall cliffs made up two-ish corners of it, and was open for anything to swoop down and grab me.

"Eh-um," a loud voice came from above me. Kind of sounded like she was clearing her throat. "Are you waiting for a death sentence, old man? 'Cause standing out there in the open like that is a good way for a Firemare to swoop you up to your death." I knew that voice too well. "Oh, and you won't be in the obituary either, mainly because we don't have one for freaks like you."

"You better shut your trap, Julie," I snapped up at her, "because I think I see a ChainWolf peering over the cliff edge lickin' his lips." I didn't hear a response back from the cliff where the voice had come from. It was Julie for sure. She was the only one that lived on the ragged cliff. I've seen her climbing skills and they are pretty impressive, especially for a girl.

"Well, your little friend's back." She simply said.

"What?" I was confused.

A growl couldn't of answered that question any clearer. I slowly turned around, praying that it wasn't the wolf. Seeing the red eyes glaring at me made me sigh with disappointment.

I needed to get out here. I needed to use my magic, but refused to.

Every magic element comes with some rules and specific things that person can do. Water elemented people can manipulate water and could change matters into water including themselves. Plant keepers (that's what people with plant magic are called) could talk to animals and plant new and different plants. Dark magic was very simple and I could only do two things: summon things that can fit in my hand and shapeshift into any animal.

I would not wait for the ChainWolf to attack, and this time, I charged it. I jumped into the air and reached for its head as it jumped as well. Its mouth opened wide and it jumped way higher than I could. I reached for its mouth as we fell to the ground in a bundle of twisted limbs. ChainWolves' mouths are similar to alligators, where they have a powerful bite, but a little kid could easily hold their mouth shut. That's what I did. I wrapped my legs around its neck and held its mouth shut. It hurt when the wolf tried to pull its head backwards and strongly hit my thighs, but I couldn't let go. I would die if I did. It pulled and pulled, way stronger than that guard, and I knew I couldn't keep it up. My magic was helping me for once, giving me strength, but it wasn't enough.

An arrow hit the wolf in the back of its shoulder blade, hiding in its furry mane. Julie must of shot that since it came from the clifftop. Why would she help me? Then, that arrow gave me an idea. I positioned my knees so they were right behind the wolf's ears and kicked my legs at its side, trying to hit the lodged arrow in its side. I kicked and kicked, losing my grip on its head. But it was worth it as I kicked the arrow so hard, the feather end snapped off and it moved slightly in the wolf's body. The ChainWolf screeched and backed away in pain. It looked at me for a second and slowly limped off into the shadows.